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Out-of-Body Experiences
An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body (autoscopy). The term out-of-body experience was introduced in 1943 by George N. M. Tyrrell in his book Apparitions,G.N.M. Tyrrell, Apparitions, Gerald Duckworth and Co. Ltd, London, 1943, pp. 149. and adopted by, for example, Celia GreenC.E. Green, Out-of-the-body Experiences, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968. and Robert MonroeJourneys Out of the Body, 1971, Robert Monroe, ISBN 0-385-00861-9 as a bias-free alternative to belief-centric labels such as "astral projection", "soul travel", or "spirit walking". Though the term usefully distances researchers from scientifically problematic concepts such as the soul, scientists still know little about the phenomenon. Some researchers believe they have managed to recreate OBE in a laboratory setup by stimulating a part in the human brain. One in ten people has an out-of-body experience once, or more commonly, several timesSusan Blackmore A Postal Survey of OBEs and Other Experiences in his or her life. OBEs are often part of the near-death experience. Those who have experienced OBEs sometimes claim to have observed details which were unknown to them beforehand. In some cases the phenomenon appears to occur spontaneously; in others it is associated with a physical or mental trauma, dehydration, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, use of psychedelic drugs, dissociative drugs, or a dream-like state. Many techniques aiming to induce the experience deliberately have been developed,Bruce, Robert (1999) Astral Dynamics: A NEW Approach to Out-of-Body Experiences ISBN 1-57174-143-7, Chapters 15–22 for example visualization while in a relaxed, meditative state. Recent (2007) studies have shown that experiences somewhat similar to OBEs can be induced by electrical brain stimulation (particularly the temporoparietal junction). Some of those who experience OBEs claimed to have willed themselves out of their bodies, while others report having found themselves being pulled from their bodies (usually preceded by a feeling of paralysis). In other accounts, the feeling of being outside the body was suddenly realized after the fact, and the experiencers saw their own bodies almost by accident. Some neurologists have suspected that the event is triggered by a mismatch between visual and tactile signals. They used a virtual reality setup to recreate an OBE. The subject looked through goggles and saw his own body as it would appear to an outside observer standing behind him. The experimenter then touched the subject at the same time as a rod appeared to touch the virtual image. The experiment created an illusion of being behind and outside one's body. However, both critics and the experimenter himself note that the study fell short of replicating "full-blown" OBEs. Types of OBE Spontaneous During/near sleep Those experiencing OBEs sometimes report a preceding and initiating lucid-dream state, though other types of immediate and spontaneous experience are also reported. In many cases, people who claimed to have had an OBE reported being on the verge of sleep, or already asleep shortly before the experience. A large percentage of these cases referred to situations where the sleep was not particularly deep (due to illness, noises in other rooms, emotional stress, exhaustion from overworking, frequent re-awakening, etc.). In most of these cases the subjects then felt themselves awake; about half of them noted a feeling of sleep paralysis. Near-death experiences Another form of spontaneous OBE is the near-death experience (NDE). Some subjects report having had an OBE at times of severe physical trauma such as near-drownings or major surgery. Other Along the same lines as an NDE, extreme physical effort during activities such as high-altitude climbing and marathon running can induce OBEs. A sense of bilocation may be apparent, with both ground and air-based perspectives being experienced simultaneously.Metziner (citing Alvarado), "Out-of-Body Experiences as the Origin of the Concept of a 'Soul , Mind & Matter Vol. 3(1), 2005, p. 65. Induced Consciously controlled and pre-meditated OBE methods (examples of which are widely available in many popular books on the subject) are also reported.Mastering Astral Projection: 90-Day Guide To Out-Of-Body Experience, Robert Bruce & Brian Mercer, ISBN 0-7387-0467-9Out-of-Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect, Robert Peterson and Charles Tart, ISBN 1571740570The Projection Of The Astral Body, Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, ISBN 978-0877280699Adventures Beyond the Body: How to Experience Out-of-Body Travel, William Buhlman, ISBN 978-0062513717Out-of-Body Exploring: A Beginner's Approach, Preston Dennett, ISBN 1571744096 Some people have attempted to develop techniques to induce OBEs. Mental induction * Falling asleep physically without losing wakefulness. The "Mind Awake, Body Asleep" state is widely suggested as a cause of OBEs, voluntary and otherwise. Thomas Edison used this state to tackle problems while working on his inventions. He would rest a silver dollar on his head while sitting with a metal bucket in a chair. As he drifted off, the coin would noisily fall into the bucket, restoring some of his alertness.Pre-Grams of Tomorrow dreams as pathway to a New World Perspective: Forrer, Kurt OBE pioneer Sylvan Muldoon more simply used a forearm held perpendicular in bed as the falling object. Salvador Dali was said to use a similar "paranoiac-critical" method to gain odd visions which inspired his paintings. Deliberately teetering between awake and asleep states is known to cause spontaneous trance episodes at the onset of sleep which are ultimately helpful when attempting to induce an OBE."Journeys out of the Body", 1972, Robert Monroe, p. 207-210, ISBN 0-285-62753-8"Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences", 2009, Robert Bruce, p. 208-9, ISBN 978-1-57174-616-0 By moving deeper and deeper into relaxation, one eventually encounters a "slipping" feeling if the mind is still alert. This slipping is reported to feel like leaving the physical body. Some consider progressive relaxation a passive form of sensory deprivation. * Waking up mentally but not physically. This related technique is typically achieved through the practice of lucid dreaming. Once inside a lucid dream, the dreamer either shifts the subject matter of the dream in an OBE direction or banishes the dream imagery completely, in doing so gaining access to the underlying state of sleep paralysis ideal for visualization of separation from the body. * Deep trance, meditation and visualization. The types of visualizations vary; some common imageries used include climbing a rope to "pull out" of one's body, floating out of one's body, getting shot out of a cannon, and other similar approaches. This technique is considered hard to use for people who cannot properly relax. One example of such a technique is the popular Golden Dawn "Body of Light" Technique."The Art and Practice of Astral Projection", 1974, Ophiel, ISBN 978-0877282464 Mechanical induction * Brainwave synchronization via audio/visual stimulation. Binaural beats can be used to induce specific brainwave frequencies,"http://www.monroeinstitute.com/content.php?content_id=33". The Effects of Hemi-Sync on Electrocortical Activity, Sadigh and Kozicky notably those predominant in various mind awake/body asleep states. Binaural induction of the "body asleep" theta brainwave frequencies characteristic of dreaming REM sleep was observed as effective by the Monroe Institute (and corroborated by others). Simultaneous introduction of "mind awake" beta frequencies (detectable in the brains of normal, relaxed awakened individuals) was also observed as constructive. Another popular technology uses sinusoidal wave pulses to achieve similar results, and the drumming accompanying native American religious ceremonies is also believed to have heightened receptivity to "other worlds" through brainwave entrainment mechanisms. * Magnetic stimulation of the brain, as with the God helmet developed by Michael Persinger. * Electrical stimulation of the brain, particularly the temporoparietal junction (See below). * Sensory deprivation. This approach aims to encourage intense disorientation by removal of space and time references. Flotation tanks or pink noise played through headphones are often employed for this purpose. * Sensory overload, the opposite of sensory deprivation. The subject can for instance be rocked for a long time in a specially designed cradle, or submitted to light forms of torture, to cause the brain to shut itself off from all sensory input. Both conditions tend to cause confusion and this disorientation often permits the subject to experience vivid, ethereal out-of-body experiences. This tends to happen when the subject believes he or she is in a particular position, whereas his or her actual body is either rocking in a cradle actively, or still lying down. Consciousness suddenly transfers to the mental body. Chemical induction * OBEs induced with drugs are sometimes considered to be hallucinations (i.e., purely subjective), even by those who believe the phenomenon to be objective in general. There are several types of drugs that can initiate an OBE, primarily the dissociative hallucinogens such as ketamine, dextromethorphan (DM or DXM), and phencyclidine (PCP). It has also been reported under the influence of tryptamine psychedelics including dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from ayahuasca. Salvia divinorum has been known to produce symptoms in which the user is said to be able to leave his or her body and travel to many places at once. Many users also claim that they feel as if their "soul" falls out of their body. * Methamphetamine has also been known to cause OBEs, not in itself but through lack of sleep. It has been reported that it felt like the person was talking above and behind them and, being under the influence of the drug, had no idea what was happening. * Galantamine is a nootropic that can increase the odds of success when using along with out-of-body experience or lucid dream induction techniques. Phenomenology Perceptions of environment OBEs tend to fall into two types, categorized by Robert Monroe as Locale 1 and Locale 2 experiences. In Locale 1 experiences the environment is largely consistent with reality; other common labels for this form are etheric, ethereal or RTZ (Real Time Zone) projections. The onset of this type can be frightening as intense physiological sensations may be perceived, such as electrical tingling, full body vibrations and racing heartbeat. Confusion is common in spontaneous Locale 1 experiences; the person can believe he or she has awakened (or died) physically and panic can be caused by the realization that one's limbs appear to be penetrating other objects. Locale 2 experiences are less overtly physical in nature and have much subjective overlap with lucid dreaming. The subject is immersed in unrealistic worlds, modified forms of reality exhibiting physically impossible or inconsistent features. Bright and vivid colors are a common feature of this form. Robert Bruce considers this type of OBE to be an astral projection. Progression In surveys, as many as 85% of respondents tell of hearing loud noises, known as "exploding head syndrome" (EHS), during the onset of OBEs. An archetypal, classical OBE unfolds through perceptually distinct stages."The Projection of the Astral Body", 1968, Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington: chapter II, "Sensation and emotion at different stages of exteriorization" subsection"Mastering Astral Projection", 2004, Robert Bruce & Brian Mercer, "Anatomy of an OBE" chapter, pp. 222–5 * Withdrawal stage: Conscious interaction with the physical environment ceases. Attention is elsewhere, with sensory inputs going unnoticed; the body is on auto-pilot. Sleeping is an example of this stage. * Cataleptic stage: Movement is totally impaired."Astral Dynamics", 1999, Robert Bruce, chapter 6: "Waking Paralysis" Alternative sensory information may suddenly seem present, such as intense vibrations, noises and sight through closed eyelids."Astral Dynamics", 1999, Robert Bruce, chapter 5: "Astral Sight" * Separation stage: With effort, the perceptual viewpoint can be pulled away from the physical body location. Still subject to intense sensation, pull back towards the body obstructs progression."Mastering Astral Projection", 2004, Robert Bruce & Brian Mercer: "Body Gravity" subsection, p. 377"The Projection of the Astral Body", 1968, Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, chapter III, "Cord-activity range" section * Free movement stage: Beyond a certain radius, movement becomes unimpeded,"The Projection of the Astral Body", 1968, Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, chapter VI, "When outside cord-activity range the phantom is free" section, p. 69 with control increasing markedly. Visual and mental clarity can vary greatly, from barely functional to exceptional. * Re-entry stage: Perceived need to return increases, leading either to voluntary reversal of separation or extremely fast involuntary snap-back. Alternatively, a transition to waking or sleeping may occur. In practice, the absence of one or more of the classical stages is not unusual. Some (notably Robert Monroe) have claimed these stages become considerably less applicable with extreme familiarity with OBE, eventually finding just a deliberate mental shift to the feeling of the state equivalent.Manual for "Gateway Experience Wave VI - Odyssey (Journey to Focus 21)", 2004, The Monroe Institute, pp. 10–11 Monroe likened this to tuning a radio away from one station and towards another, and termed the process "phasing".The Frank Kepple Phasing Resource (detailed treatment of Monroe's phasing model of OBE-related states) End-of-OBE perceptions The OBE may or may not be followed by other experiences which are self-reported as being "as real" as the OBE feeling; alternatively, the subject may fade into a state self-reported as dreaming, or they may awake completely. The OBE is sometimes ended due to a fearful feeling of getting "too far away" from the body. Many end with a feeling of suddenly "popping" or "snapping" and sometimes a "pulling" back into their bodies; some even report being "sucked back" into physical form. A majority describe the end of the experience by saying "then I woke up". However, some report returning the physical body and senses consciously. Transitioning from the "dream body" in an OBE back to the physical body has been compared to using a camera to slowly unfocus on a distant object (the dream or OBE body) while refocusing on a much closer one (the physical body). The distant object blurs out at first and eventually disappears completely as the new object comes into focus. However it's worth noting that even those who describe the experience as something fantastic that occurs during sleep, and who describe the end of the experience by saying "and then I woke up", are very specific in describing the experience as one which was clearly not a dream; many described their sense of feeling more awake than they felt when they were normally awake. One compared the experience to that of lucid dreaming, but said that it was "more real". NDE phenomenology The phenomenology of an NDE usually includes additional physiological, psychological and transcendental factors beyond those of typical OBEs (Parnia, Waller, Yeates & Fenwick, 2001). Near-death experiences may include subjective impressions of being outside the physical body, visions of deceased relatives and religious figures, and transcendence of ego and spatiotemporal boundaries.Greyson, Bruce. Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population. Psychiatr Serv 54:1649–1651, December 2003 Typically the experience includes such factors as: a sense of being dead; a feeling of peace and painlessness; hearing of various non-physical sounds, an out-of-body experience; a tunnel experience (the sense of moving up or through a narrow passageway); encountering people of Light; God-like figures, helpers, spiritual guides, or similar forces; being given a "Life review", and a reluctance to return to life.Mauro, James. Bright lights, big Mystery. Psychology Today, Jul '92 Studies of OBEs The first extensive scientific study of OBEs was made by Celia Green (1968).Green, C.E. (1968). Out-of-the-Body Experiences. London: Hamish Hamilton. She collected written, first-hand accounts from a total of 400 subjects, recruited by means of appeals in the mainstream media, and followed up by questionnaires. Her purpose was to provide a taxonomy of the different types of OBE, viewed simply as an anomalous perceptual experience or hallucination, while leaving open the question of whether some of the cases might incorporate information derived by extrasensory perception. Previous collections of cases had been made by Dr Ernesto Bozzano (Italy) and Dr. Robert Crookall (UK). Crookall approached the subject from a spiritualistic position, and collected his cases predominantly from spiritualist newspapers such as the Psychic News, which appears to have biased his results in various ways. For example, the majority of his subjects reported seeing a cord connecting the physical body and its observing counterpart; whereas Green found that less than 4% of her subjects noticed anything of this sort, and some 80% reported feeling they were a "disembodied consciousness", with no external body at all. In 1999, at the 1st International Forum of Consciousness Research in Barcelona, International Academy of Consciousness research-practitioners Wagner Alegretti and Nanci Trivellato presented preliminary findings of an online survey on the out-of-body experience answered by internet users interested in the subject; therefore, not a sample representative of the general population. 1,007 (85%) of the first 1,185 respondents reported having had an OBE. 37% claimed to have had between two and ten OBEs. 5.5% claimed more than 100 such experiences. 45% of those who reported an OBE said they successfully induced at least one OBE by using a specific technique. 62% of participants claiming to have had an OBE also reported having enjoyed nonphysical flight; 40% reported experiencing the phenomenon of self-bilocation (i.e. seeing one's own physical body whilst outside the body); and 38% claimed having experienced self-permeability (passing through physical objects such as walls). The most commonly reported sensations experienced in connection with the OBE were falling, floating, repercussions e.g. myoclonia (the jerking of limbs, jerking awake), sinking, torpidity (numbness), intracranial sounds, tingling, clairvoyance, oscillation and serenity. Another reported common sensation related to OBE was temporary or projective catalepsy, more commonly known as sleep paralysis. The sleep paralysis and OBE correlation was later corroborated by the Out-of-Body Experience and Arousal study published in Neurology by Kevin Nelson et al. (2007). Also noteworthy, is the Waterloo Unusual Sleep Experiences Questionnaire that further illustrates the correlation. William Buhlman, an author on the subject, has conducted an informal but informative online survey as well. Neurology and OBE-like experiences There are several possible physiological explanations for parts of the OBE. OBE-like experiences have been induced by stimulation of the brain. OBE-like experience has also been induced through stimulation of the posterior part of the right superior temporal gyrus in a patient.De Ridder D, Van Laere K, Dupont P, Menovsky T, Van de Heyning P. Visualizing out-of-body experience in the brain. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 1;357(18):1829–33. Positron-emission tomography was also used in this study to identify brain regions affected by this stimulation. The term OBE-like is used above because the experiences described in these experiments either lacked some of the clarity or details of normal OBEs, or were described by subjects who had never experienced an OBE before. Such subjects were therefore not qualified to make claims about the authenticity of the experimentally-induced OBE. English psychologist Susan Blackmore suggests that an OBE begins when a person loses contact with sensory input from the body while remaining conscious. The person retains the illusion of having a body, but that perception is no longer derived from the senses. The perceived world may resemble the world he or she generally inhabits while awake, but this perception does not come from the senses either. The vivid body and world is made by our brain's ability to create fully convincing realms, even in the absence of sensory information. This process is witnessed by each of us every night in our dreams, though OBEs are claimed to be far more vivid than even a lucid dream. IrwinIrwin, H.J. (1985). Flight of Mind: a psychological study of the out-of-body experience. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press. pointed out that OBEs appear to occur under conditions of either very high or very low arousal. For example, GreenGreen C.E. (1968). Out-of-the-Body Experiences. London: Hamish Hamilton. found that three quarters of a group of 176 subjects reporting a single OBE were lying down at the time of the experience, and of these 12% considered they had been asleep when it started. By contrast, a substantial minority of her cases occurred under conditions of maximum arousal, such as a rock-climbing fall, a traffic accident, or childbirth. McCreeryMcCreery, C. (1997). Hallucinations and arousability: pointers to a theory of psychosis. In Claridge, G. (ed.): Schizotypy, Implications for Illness and Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.McCreery, C. (2008). Dreams and psychosis: a new look at an old hypothesis. Psychological Paper No. 2008–1. Oxford: Oxford Forum. Online PDF has suggested that this paradox may be explained by reference to the fact that sleep can supervene as a reaction to extreme stress or hyper-arousal.Oswald, I. (1962). Sleeping and Waking: Physiology and Psychology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. He proposes that OBEs under both conditions, relaxation and hyper-arousal, represent a form of "waking dream", or the intrusion of Stage 1 sleep processes into waking consciousness. Van Lommel studies The first clinical study of near-death experiences (NDE's) in cardiac arrest patients was by Pim van Lommel, a cardiologist from the Netherlands, and his team (The Lancet, 2001).van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands", Lancet, December 15; 358(9298):2039–45. Of 344 patients who were successfully resuscitated after suffering cardiac arrest, approximately 18% experienced "classic" NDE's, which included out-of-body experiences. The patients remembered details of their conditions during their cardiac arrest despite being clinically dead with flatlined brain stem activity. Van Lommel concluded that his findings supported the theory that consciousness continued despite lack of neuronal activity in the brain. Van Lommel conjectured that continuity of consciousness may be achievable if the brain acted as a receiver for the information generated by memories and consciousness, which existed independently of the brain, just as radio, television and internet information existed independently of the instruments that received it.Van Lommel, Pim (Hospital Rijnstate), "A Reply to Shermer: Medical Evidence for NDEs" in Skeptical Investigations, 2003. http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/whoswho/vanLommel.htm Olaf Blanke studies Research by Olaf Blanke in Switzerland found that it is possible to reliably elicit experiences somewhat similar to the OBE by stimulating regions of the brain called the right temporal-parietal junction (TPJ; a region where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe of the brain come together). Blanke and his collaborators in Switzerland have explored the neural basis of OBEs by showing that they are reliably associated with lesions in the right TPJ regionBlanke, O., Landis, T., Spinelli, L., & Seeck, M. (2004). Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain, 127(Pt 2), 243–258. and that they can be reliably elicited with electrical stimulation of this region in a patient with epilepsy. These elicited experiences may include perceptions of transformations of the patient's arms and legs (complex somatosensory responses) and whole-body displacements (vestibular responses).Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at Ecole Polytechnique Federeale de Lausanne: http://lnco.epfl.ch/Out-of-Body Experiences: All in the Brain? By Jan Holden, EdD, Jeff Long, MD, and Jason MacLurg, MD Vital Signs Volume 21, Number 3 In neurologically normal subjects, Blanke and colleagues then showed that the conscious experience of the self and body being in the same location depends on multisensory integration in the TPJ. Using event-related potentials, Blanke and colleagues showed the selective activation of the TPJ 330–400 ms after stimulus onset when healthy volunteers imagined themselves in the position and visual perspective that generally are reported by people experiencing spontaneous OBEs. Transcranial magnetic stimulation in the same subjects impaired mental transformation of the participant's own body. No such effects were found with stimulation of another site or for imagined spatial transformations of external objects, suggesting the selective implication of the TPJ in mental imagery of one's own body.Blanke, O., Mohr, C., Michel, C. M., Pascual-Leone, A., Brugger, P., Seeck, M., et al. (2005). Linking out-of-body experience and self processing to mental own-body imagery at the temporoparietal junction. Journal of Neuroscience, 25(3); doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2612-04.2005.http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/25/3/550 In a follow up study, Arzy et al. showed that the location and timing of brain activation depended on whether mental imagery is performed with mentally embodied or disembodied self location. When subjects performed mental imagery with an embodied location, there was increased activation of a region called the "extrastriate body area" (EBA), but when subjects performed mental imagery with a disembodied location, as reported in OBEs, there was increased activation in the region of the TPJ. This leads Arzy et al. to argue that "these data show that distributed brain activity at the EBA and TPJ as well as their timing are crucial for the coding of the self as embodied and as spatially situated within the human body." Blanke and colleagues thus propose that the right temporal-parietal junction is important for the sense of spatial location of the self, and that when these normal processes go awry, an OBE arises. In August 2007 Blanke's lab published research in Science demonstrating that conflicting visual-somatosensory input in virtual reality could disrupt the spatial unity between the self and the body. During multisensory conflict, participants felt as if a virtual body seen in front of them was their own body and mislocalized themselves toward the virtual body, to a position outside their bodily borders. This indicates that spatial unity and bodily self-consciousness can be studied experimentally and is based on multisensory and cognitive processing of bodily information.Lenggenhager et al. 2007. Video Ergo Sum: Manipulating Bodily Self-Consciousness. Science 317:1096–1099 DOI: 10.1126/science.1143439 Michael Persinger studies Michael Persinger has undertaken similar research to Olaf Blanke using magnetic stimulation applied to the right temporal lobe of the brain, which is known to be involved in visuo-spatial functions, multi-sensory integration and the construction of the sense of the body in space.Michael Persinger's research on YouTube presented by Michael Shermer Persinger's research also found evidence for objective neural differences between periods of remote viewing in two individuals thought to have psychic abilities. Persinger undertook his research on Sean Harribance and Ingo Swann, a renowned remote viewer who has taken part in numerous studies. Examination of Harribance showed enhanced EEG activity within the alpha band (8–12 Hz) over Harribance's right parieto-occipital region, consistent with neuropsychological evidence of early brain trauma in these regions. In a second study, Ingo Swann was asked to draw images of pictures hidden in envelopes in another room. Individuals with no knowledge of the nature of the study rated Swann's comments and drawings as congruent with the remotely viewed stimulus at better than chance levels. Additionally, on trials in which Swann was correct, the duration of 7 Hz (alpha band) paroxysmal discharges over the right occipital lobe was longer. Subsequent anatomical MRI examination showed anomalous subcortical white matter signals focused in the perieto-occipital interface of the right hemisphere that were not expected for his age or history. Ehrsson study In August 2007 Henrik Ehrsson, then at the Institute of Neurology at University College of London (now at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden) published research in Science demonstrating the first experimental method that, according to the scientist's claims in the publication, induced an out-of-body experience in healthy participants.Ehrsson, H.H. 2007. The Experimental Induction of Out-of-Body Experiences. Science 317:1048 DOI: 10.1126/science.1142175 The experiment was conducted in the following way: The experiment fits a three-point definition of the out-of-body experience (OBE). The OBE as reported in spontaneous cases can be phenomenologically more complex as commented in SlateThe Out-of-Body Electric, August 23, 2007, Daniel Engber, Slate and elsewhere.First OBE Experiment Was In 1966, September 21, 2007, Nelson Abreu, Medical News Today University of Southampton study In the fall of 2008, 25 UK and US hospitals began participation in a 3 year study, coordinated by Dr. Sam Parnia and Southampton University. Following on from the work of Pim van Lommel in the Netherlands, the study aims to examine near-death experiences in 1,500 cardiac arrest survivors and so determine whether people without a heartbeat or brain activity can have documentable out-of-body experiences. OBE training and research facilities The Monroe Institute's Nancy Penn Center is the oldest and most established facility specializing in out-of-body experience induction. The Center for Higher Studies of the Consciousness in Brazil is another large OBE training facility. The International Academy of Consciousness in southern Portugal features the Projectarium, a spherical structure dedicated exclusively for practice and research on out-of-body experience. Olaf Blanke's Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience has become a well-known laboratory for OBE research. Astral projection Astral projection is a paranormal interpretation of out-of-body experiences that assumes the existence of one or more non-physical planes of existence and an associated body beyond the physical. Commonly such planes are called astral, etheric, or spiritual. Astral projection is often experienced as the spirit or astral body leaving the physical body to travel in the spirit world or astral plane. Evidence for objective reality of projection on to the etheric plane (a near-copy of the physical plane) is sometimes suggested when people, such as patients during surgery, describe OBEs in which they see or hear events or objects outside their sensory range (for instance, Pam Reynolds reported experiencing an OBE during brain surgery and described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as conversation that occurred while she was under anethesia).Michael B. Sabom. Light & death: one doctor's fascinating account of near-death experiences, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. ISBN 0310219922. This account is summarized in [http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence01.html People Have NDEs While Brain Dead]. Accessed 2008-06-03. See also Notes References * Buhlman, William. "Adventures Beyond the Body: How to experience out-of-body travel". ISBN 0062513710 * Review of the tome "Projectiology: A Panorama of Experiences Outside the Human Body" by Waldo Vieira, MD Journal of Parapsychology * Jones, Zakary et al. (2009). Filters and Reflections: Perspectives on Reality. "Out-of-Body Experiences: An Exploration of Non-Local Filters" (Contributed chapter by Nelson Abreu, International Academy of Consciousness). ICRL Press. * Leland, Kurt. (2001). Otherwhere: A Field Guide to Nonphysical Reality for the Out-of-Body Traveler. Hampton Roads Publishing. ISBN 978-1571742414 * Leland, Kurt. (2002). The Unanswered Question: Death, Near-Death, and the Afterlife. Hampton Roads Publishing. ISBN 978-1571742995 * Monroe, Robert. (1971). Doubleday Journeys Out of the Body. reprinted (1989) Souvenir Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0285627536 * Monroe, Robert. (1985). Far Journeys. Doubleday. reprinted (1992) Main Street Books. ISBN 978-0385231824 * Monroe, Robert. (1994). Ultimate Journey. Doubleday. reprinted (1996) Main Street Books. ISBN 978-0385472081 * Pritchard, Mark H (2004). "A Course in Astral Travel and Dreams". Absolute Publishing Press. ISBN 0-9740560-1-4 * Raduga, Michael. (2009). School of Out-of-Body Travel. A Practical Guidebook. ISBN 978-1445766713 * Raduga, Michael. (2009). Ultimate Yoga 2012 * Tart, Charles (1997). "Six Studies of Out-of-the-Body Experiences" Journal of Near Death Studies * Vieira, Waldo (2002). Projectiology: A Panorama of Experiences of the Consciousness Outside the Human Body. ISBN 978-8586019586 * Vieira, Waldo (2007). Projections of the Consciousness: A Diary of Out-of-Body Experiences. International Academy of Consciousness. Further reading * External links * "Out-of-Body Experience (OBE)" - from the Skeptic's Dictionary * Reductionist Arguments Explaining Neath-death Experiences (NDEs) and OBEs Video * * Category:Spirituality Category:Forteana Category:Lucid dreams Category:Near-death experiences af:Buiteliggaamlike ervaring ar:الخروج من الجسد bg:Извънтелесно преживяване cs:Astrální cestování da:Ud af kroppen de:Außerkörperliche Erfahrung es:Experiencia extracorporal fa:تجربه خروج از بدن fr:Voyage astral it:Esperienze extracorporee he:חוויה חוץ-גופית nl:Uittreding (parapsychologie) ja:体外離脱 no:Ut av kroppen-opplevelse pl:Eksterioryzacja fi:Kehostapoistumiskokemus sv:Utanför kroppen-upplevelse uk:Досвід поза тілом ur:تجربۂ بیرون جسم zh:靈魂出竅